Every year, CQ Press publishes its annual report on crime, which analyzes data for cities with a population of at least 75,000 residents. Needless to say, the ranking of the most dangerous cities in the United States is always controversial – especially among those who are near the top of the list.

For its 2013-14 rankings, CQ Press considered the statistics for the following six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and motor vehicle thefts. How did Shreveport do, you ask? It came in as the 109th most dangerous city in the nation out of 437 cities surveyed by CQ Press. In other words, it is more dangerous to live in Shreveport than 328 other cities which were ranked.

That ranking is a bit of an improvement over its 2012-13 ranking when it was rated the 95th most dangerous out of 432 cities. In 2010- 11, it was the 85th most dangerous city among those with a population of 75,000 or more. Baby steps?

Of course, many of the 437 cities surveyed in this most recent study have a much higher population than Shreveport. So, how does it compare in the rankings with cities with a similarsize population of around 200,000?

I looked at 12 cities comparable in size, and here is how they stack up. Remember that the lower the number, the more dangerous the city.: • Little Rock, Ark., 19th most dangerous. 

• Akron, Ohio, 53rd most dangerous. 

• Tacoma, Wash., 60th most dangerous. 

• Modesto, Calif., 65th most dangerous. 

• Shreveport, 109th most dangerous. 

• Columbus, Ga., 127th most dangerous.

• Amarillo, Texas, 134th most dangerous. 

• Moreno Valley, Calif., 217th most dangerous. 

• Fontana, Calif., 225th most dangerous. 

• Yonkers, N.Y., 276th most dangerous. 

• Oxnard, Calif., 291st most dangerous. • Aurora, Ill., 345th most dangerous.

Among the 12 cities of comparable size, Shreveport is the fifth most dangerous. As for other Louisiana cities, New Orleans, as expected, ranks as the most dangerous city in Louisiana and the 13th most dangerous nationwide. Baton Rouge was not far behind, ranked as the nation’s 29th most dangerous city. Lafayette came in as the 141st most dangerous on the list of 437 cities. For the record, the Top 10 most dangerous cities in the country are Camden, N.J.; Flint, Mich.; Detroit, Mich.; Oakland, Calif.; St. Louis, Mo.; Cleveland, Ohio; Gary, Ind.; Newark, N.J.; Bridgeport, Conn.; and Birmingham, Ala. The Top 10 safest cities are Fishers, Ind.; Carmel, Ind.; Parma, Ohio; Johns Creek, Ga.; Ramapo, N.Y.; Amherst, N.Y.; Newton, Mass.; Clarkstown, N.Y.; Mission Viego, Calif.; and Colonie, N.Y.

CQ Press also ranks metropolitan areas. However, many of those areas are not filing complete crime reports, which makes it impossible for them to be ranked. Among them are four metropolitan areas in Louisiana, including the Shreveport-Bossier City metro area, which includes Caddo, Bossier, DeSoto and Webster parishes. The last time data was available to rank the area was in 2011-12, and it was designated the 44th most dangerous in the country out of 382 Metropolitan Areas. Also on the list of areas unable to be ranked were the Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and Alexandria metropolitan areas.

What was surprising is that for the first time the Hammond Metropolitan Area, which includes Tangipahoa Parish, was included in the rankings, coming in as the fifth most dangerous in the country out of 350 areas surveyed. That is somewhat hard to believe. The New Orleans-Metairie Metropolitan Area, which includes Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. James, and St. Tammany parishes, was ranked the 15th most dangerous. Now that is not hard to believe.

The Monroe metropolitan area, which includes Ouachita and Union parishes, was ranked 103rd most dangerous, and the Houma-Thibodaux metropolitan area, which includes Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, was ranked 231st most dangerous.

As I said, the CQ Press is criticized by many cities, which question the viability of the rankings. But here is what CQ Press says about its annual survey: “The data featured in City Crime Rankings come from the FBI publication Crime in the United States (2013), which is available every fall and presents information for the previous year. This report is based on data collected through the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which began in 1930. The purpose of the UCR Program has been to develop reliable information about crime reported to law enforcement that can be used by law enforcement as well as by criminologists, sociologists, legislators, municipal planners and the media for a variety of research and planning purposes. Although the program is voluntary, in 2012, 18,290 city, university and college, county, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies provided information representing 99 percent of the population.”